1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to systems that use redundancy to provide access to information stored on failed systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to providing access to dispatch information for service technicians to more effectively schedule their tasks in the event that their primary source of dispatch information is unavailable.
2. Background of the Invention
Integrated dispatch systems (IDSs), such as Telcordia's Media Vantage Force, are commonly used to schedule dispatch of service technicians. These service technicians can be generally classified as either installation technicians or maintenance technicians. Installation technicians primarily install new services. Maintenance technicians primarily respond to trouble calls. The service technicians are placed in the field to respond to service orders that can range in nature from installations to repairs.
Internally, service orders are tracked using documents called trouble tickets. The trouble tickets contain information related to service jobs that are to be performed by the service technicians. Generally, the trouble tickets are maintained in electronic form and stored in the IDS. The IDS is responsible for scheduling the service jobs using the information contained in the trouble tickets.
Database servers in IDS systems use proprietary software (e.g., Telcordia's Media Vantage Force software) to retain all information about customers who had have reported problems and the status of installation orders. Generally, the information is stored in the electronic trouble tickets described above. These database servers are accessed to obtain dispatch information that is required to efficiently dispatch service technicians to complete their jobs. If access to the dispatch information is interrupted (for example, due to a power failure or some other interruption), and is not available to the technicians, the technicians cannot efficiently determine where they should be or what jobs that should complete. Consequently, their productivity is greatly reduced.
There has been a move to mechanize distribution of dispatch information to technicians. Mechanization allows decentralized access to the dispatch information and reduction in the effort required to respond to technician dispatch requests. For example, a technician equipped with a laptop computer can access dispatch information in the IDS' database servers via a wireless network in a mechanized dispatch information system. Generally, an application server provides the interface for the technician to access the dispatch information.
Paper records have been maintained during the mechanization process to provide a backup in the event of a failure of the IDS system. In the loop maintenance operating system (LMOS) Mapper dispatching system, for example, reports are run periodically throughout the day that obtain a snapshot of the load at the time the report was run. The load indicates where technicians are dispatched and what jobs they were working on. Though these reports are generally a few hours old, they provide a backup in the event of an IDS failure that prevents technician access to the dispatch information. When such failures occur, technicians in the field contact operators to get dispatch information such as new task updates or information regarding existing tasks. The operator identifies the appropriate paper record report that contains the dispatch information that is required to respond to the technician's query.
One problem with older systems such as LMOS Mapper is limited capacity. Large service companies, such as large telephone companies, can have more than 15,000 technicians to service maintenance and installation requests. This number of technicians exceeds the capacity of the LMOS Mapper dispatch system. As a result, newer systems are being developed to handle these larger numbers of technicians. One of the ways for achieving the increased capacity in the new systems is to eliminate the generation of the backup paper records. Elimination of the backup paper records frees processor cycles that can be used to service the larger number of technicians. However, elimination of the paper records also precludes their use by operators to assist technicians in the event of IDS failure.
Another problem that arises from the move to mechanized dispatch information distribution is that fewer staff are retained to answer calls from service technicians when the IDS failed. The remaining staff would be likely overwhelmed by dispatch information request calls made by the thousands of technicians in the field in the event of an IDS failure.
As a result, without the paper records, it is generally difficult for a large service company to dispatch its service technicians when access to the IDS is interrupted. Compounding the problem, the remaining staff cannot hope to respond to the thousands of technician requests that would occur in the event of an IDS system failure. Consequently, 15,000 technicians or more could be left with literally nothing to do. This possibility is a significant risk associated with newer systems.
Newer systems may also include one or more terminals available that can be used to access the information in a database server to be used for dispatching technicians. These direct access terminals do not adequately solve the foregoing problems for at least two reasons. First, there is insufficient staff to operate such terminal(s). Second, these terminals cannot be used if the database itself fails. As a result, even direct database access terminals do not assure adequate coverage in the event of system failure.